This invention relates to a method of forming an insulating film pattern, which is adapted to be employed in the manufacture of an electronic device such as a semiconductor device and a liquid crystal display device, and also relates to a photosensitive composition.
In the manufacture of a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display device, an insulating film is required to be formed for insulating a wiring of semiconductor element or of liquid crystal display element from other layers or regions.
As for the method of forming an insulating film to cover the wiring, various methods have been conventionally adopted, e.g. (1) a method of depositing a silicon compound by means of a CVD method; or (2) a method comprising the steps of forming a coating of an organosilica sol of alkoxy-substituted silane such as tetraethoxy silane or of alkoxy-containing siloxane of low molecular weight, and heating the coated layer to dry it.
When an insulating film which has been formed by the aforementioned methods is to be patterned for forming a contact hole for instance, a sequence of procedures, i.e. forming a resist pattern on the insulating film, etching the insulating film with the resist pattern being employed as a mask, and removing the resist pattern are usually required to be undertaken. Namely, these procedures are rather troublesome and lead to an increase in cost for forming an insulating film pattern.
There is also known, as a method of forming a silicon oxide film through coating, a method of forming a silicone polymer by making use of a sol-gel method. According to this method, a silicon oxide film can be obtained by way of heating, but the processes of exposure and development cannot be utilized. Moreover, the film obtained by this method is relatively large in dielectric constant, i.e. about 4.0. The employment of an insulating film having such a high dielectric constant is undesirable in view of a delay in signal propagation velocity that might be caused by a miniaturization of semiconductor element.